1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,400 Let's open the Word of God together this evening to the book of Ephesians and the second chapter, 2 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:22,600 Ephesians chapter 2. 3 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:26,960 From the lofty heights to the low valley, that's the route that Paul takes us in his 4 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:32,000 writing. After viewing the riches that belong to the child of God and praying 5 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:38,360 that we might know God and know who we are and what we possess in Christ, he now 6 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:46,200 in our text tonight returns to the low estate, the dark depths which all unsaved 7 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:56,800 occupy and from which every child of God has been delivered and raised. And you 8 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:03,320 were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to 9 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:09,840 the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the 10 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:16,200 spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all 11 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:22,960 formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and 12 00:01:22,960 --> 00:01:33,560 of the mind and were by nature children of wrath even as the rust. But God, let's 13 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:41,440 bow together. Our Father, I pray this evening that as we investigate your 14 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:47,680 record of our past, that our hearts would be renewed with gratitude for the grace 15 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:56,920 and mercy by which you intervened in our lives and saved us, not only from what we 16 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:08,080 were but where we were headed. In Jesus name, amen. One of the questions which we 17 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:14,280 did not get to last week in the fifth Sunday forum was this, if God knew in 18 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:22,280 advance what man was going to sin, why did he go ahead and create him? Have you 19 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:28,720 ever wondered that? God knows all things and if he knew in advance that this 20 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:33,040 creature was going to fall into sin, why did he go through with it all anyway? 21 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:38,680 Of course we can't understand the full answer to that because that is partly 22 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:43,400 hidden in the counsel of God. The secret things belong to the Lord. The Dr. 23 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:48,360 Lewis Bray Schaeffer writes these helpful words. He says, the purpose of God 24 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:54,080 incorporates vastly more than the mere rescue of sinners from their doom. As 25 00:02:54,080 --> 00:03:01,640 wonderful as that rescue is. God is the designer and creator of all things. His 26 00:03:01,640 --> 00:03:07,320 preservation is extended to all things and his providence is guiding all things 27 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:13,040 in order that, agreeable to his own sovereign will, all things may redound to 28 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:19,800 the praise of his glory and grace. To this end, that is to the praise of his 29 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:27,400 glory and grace, sin is permitted, its manifestation in the universe. First in 30 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:36,080 heaven, in Satan, and then upon the earth. A race is allowed to fall. A savior is 31 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:40,520 provided who by his death and resurrection declares to an infinite 32 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:46,080 degree the love and grace of God and the individual sinner according to divine 33 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:54,080 election is called and saved unto an eternal heavenly glory. One all-inclusive 34 00:03:54,080 --> 00:04:00,800 decree extending its scope from eternity to eternity and wrought throughout on 35 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:08,320 the plane of infinity, must of necessity present unsolvable mysteries to a finite 36 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:16,840 mind. The permission and manifestation of evil, the advent and sacrifice of the 37 00:04:16,840 --> 00:04:23,040 Savior, and the choice of an elect company which through all eternity is to 38 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:29,080 be a demonstration to all created intelligences of the marvels of divine 39 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:35,000 grace. Nevertheless, the revelation of this divine program is made and is to be 40 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:41,000 believed even though in all its parts it cannot be understood by the mind of man. 41 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:49,840 Why has God permitted evil? We don't know, except this, that by the manifestation of 42 00:04:49,840 --> 00:04:55,480 evil God is able to manifest certain aspects of his divine nature which 43 00:04:55,480 --> 00:05:05,600 otherwise might be difficult to perceive. His mercy, his grace, his love have been 44 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:11,280 poured out upon us and throughout all eternity to come to all created 45 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:17,640 intelligences as Dr. Schaeffer puts it. God is going to manifest those aspects 46 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:24,200 of his nature by what he does for us and by demonstrating what he did for us at 47 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:31,600 the cross. It might be helpful at this point just to review quickly our outline 48 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:37,120 of Ephesians. In chapters one through three the apostle writes about our calling 49 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:44,760 in Christ and in chapter one verses one through fourteen he speaks about the 50 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:50,200 blessings of our calling in Christ. Summarized in one word we would call them 51 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:57,360 salvation. The blessing of our calling in Christ is that God has saved us and all 52 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:02,000 that that entails is described in those verses especially verses three through 53 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:07,360 fourteen which comprise one sentence in the Greek language. And then he prays, he 54 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:11,520 interjects a prayer that we might know God and know who we are in Christ and 55 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:19,600 that that might make a difference. And then in verses 19 of chapter one through 56 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:25,920 chapter two and verse ten he talks about the basis of our calling in 57 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:32,360 Christ. The basis of our calling in Christ is our identification with him. 58 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:39,200 Our identification with Christ in death, burial, and resurrection and his ascension 59 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:46,120 for that matter is the basis upon which God saves us and treats us as his own 60 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:52,240 children. Our text tonight is a graphic description though of the past of every 61 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:59,920 child of God. Notice first your description. He talks about the condition 62 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:04,880 that you were in in verse one. He says and you were dead in your trespasses 63 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:13,680 and sins. Notice that this is not a charge that you sinned but rather it is 64 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:21,280 a description of the state of your soul before you were saved. Dead. Not merely 65 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:29,400 diseased, not just disfigured, but dead. Without life toward God separated from 66 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:35,400 him. This is not physical death now in this context for he's talking to people 67 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:40,520 who were very much alive physically but he is saying you were dead 68 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:47,640 spiritually and the cause of that was your trespasses and sins. This death and 69 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:55,840 sins means a total inability to respond to God apart from the miracle of 70 00:07:55,840 --> 00:08:03,160 regeneration. The sinner is incapable of responding to the gospel until he is 71 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:10,200 given the ability to do so through the new birth. Now actually regeneration or 72 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:16,920 the new birth occurs at the same time as faith is extended in to the Lord Jesus 73 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:24,240 Christ but logically, logically speaking, regeneration must come first because a 74 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:30,480 dead person can do nothing. He must first be brought to life and then be able to 75 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:39,400 believe. Our death in trespasses and sins was inherited from our father Adam. By 76 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:47,080 one man sin entered into the world Romans 512 and death by sin. He willfully 77 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:52,800 disobeyed God and death followed. Spiritual death immediately he was 78 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:57,960 separated from God. Physical death eventually 900 and some years after his 79 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:03,760 birth and ultimately second death would have been his had it not been for the 80 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:10,920 grace of God that saved him. He could only reproduce after his kind like all 81 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:19,280 the rest of God's creation and so as a fallen creature Adam and Eve bore 82 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:26,600 children. Children who were likewise sinners and who likewise inherited death. 83 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:33,720 We inherit from him our fallenness and we inherit from him as well this 84 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:40,280 threefold death. Every baby that is born into the world is born dead in 85 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:48,800 trespasses and sins. This does not mean that the corruption of sin has had its 86 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:56,000 full course in us. When we talk about being dead in trespasses and sins it 87 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:03,000 does not mean the unsafe people are incapable of doing relative good because 88 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:09,200 they can do good. Unregenerate people people are capable of natural good of 89 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:16,000 moral good of relative good. In fact it's sad to say but there are some unsafe 90 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:21,720 people who live better lives, gooder lives if you please and some of God's 91 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:30,440 own children. But that kind of good does not compare with ultimate good or 92 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:39,720 spiritual good. We talk about the total depravity of the sinner. That means every 93 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:47,400 part of the sinner is depraved. No part of him escapes the effect of sin. His 94 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:53,840 depravity renders him without spiritual life, incapable of doing ultimate good 95 00:10:53,840 --> 00:11:01,080 and without hope in himself as far as salvation is concerned. He is dead 96 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:09,080 utterly without hope apart from Jesus Christ. Now my friend that is a 97 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:18,160 description of you and the condition of your soul. If you've never trusted Jesus 98 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:21,480 Christ that is a description of your soul tonight as you sit here in this 99 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:26,600 room. If you are a child of God it is a description of your soul in its 100 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:33,680 condition before you were saved. In verses 2 & 3 he focuses not on the 101 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:38,680 condition so much but the outgrowth of that the conduct the conduct by which 102 00:11:38,680 --> 00:11:44,880 you were noted. He says in general in verse 1 that was characterized by 103 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:52,440 transgressions that is false steps, deviations from the right path, going off 104 00:11:52,440 --> 00:12:02,280 straying away and also by sins. The word sin here means to miss the mark. It 105 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:10,280 refers to acts, thoughts, and words that miss the mark of pleasing God and notice 106 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:17,040 that both of these are in plural trespasses, sins. Referring to the habit 107 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:28,240 of life the conduct was habitual in sin, dominated by sin, by transgressions and 108 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:32,800 then he begins to elaborate more fully. In fact there are three further 109 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:39,160 delineations of our conduct because we were dead in trespasses and sins. He 110 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:45,560 talks about the direction of the world in which we lived. He talks about the 111 00:12:45,560 --> 00:12:52,240 dictation of Satan, the domination of the flesh. Do you notice that the world, 112 00:12:52,240 --> 00:13:04,280 Satan, the flesh, those are the masters of the unregenerate. The masters of the 113 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:09,480 unregenerate are the enemies still of the Christian, the world, the flesh, and the 114 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:16,520 devil. But for those who are outside of Christ, those who have no life in Christ, 115 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:23,160 these are their masters, the world. He says that before you were saved you walked 116 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:28,640 according to the course of this world. That was your conduct. The world 117 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:35,360 dominated you. The word world here means the arrangement, the order of things 118 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:44,680 that now controls the world population. It is the system of thought, of culture, 119 00:13:44,680 --> 00:13:53,080 motivation that characterizes the present order of things as they are. We 120 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:58,600 walked according to the course of this world. I think the Schofield Bible has 121 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:06,280 perhaps the finest summary of what the world is of any that I've read. It says 122 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:12,640 in the sense of the present world system, the ethically bad sense of the world 123 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:19,000 refers to the order or arrangement under which Satan has organized the 124 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:25,800 world of unbelieving mankind upon his cosmic principles of force, greed, 125 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:34,320 selfishness, ambition, and pleasure. This world system is imposing and powerful 126 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:40,560 with military might, is often outwardly religious, scientific, cultured, and 127 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:46,840 elegant, but seething with national and commercial rivalries and ambitions is 128 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:53,120 upheld in any real crisis only by armed force and is dominated by Satanic 129 00:14:53,120 --> 00:15:00,760 principles. John tells us that the world involves the lust of the flesh, the lust 130 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:09,160 of the eyes, and the pride of life. Passions, possessions, and position. That's 131 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:15,920 the essence of the world and what motivates it, what it seeks. The unsaved 132 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:25,400 person is dominated by these things, by passion, by the desire for possessions, by 133 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:30,200 position and power. Those are the things that are important to the unsaved 134 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:36,360 person because he conducts himself according to the course of this world. 135 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:42,040 The word course is an interesting word. It surprises you as you investigate it 136 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:47,600 because this is the word that is translated elsewhere, age. He says you 137 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:55,520 walked according to the age of this world. This word, Iona, refers to the 138 00:15:55,520 --> 00:16:02,620 current mood, the changing fads as they happen to be at any particular point in 139 00:16:02,620 --> 00:16:10,000 history. And so what he's saying is that unsafe people are dominated by the 140 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:16,640 current fads of the world system. Whatever is involved at that particular 141 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:23,920 point, that is what masters them and controls them. Hendrickson says it is the 142 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:30,000 environment in which you formerly moved about freely, feeling perfectly at home, 143 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:34,680 conducting yourselves in complete harmony with the spirit of the age that 144 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:41,400 marks mankind alienated from the life of God. That's the world, the age of this 145 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:47,440 world. Now not only did the world dominate you and me before we were saved, but we 146 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:54,560 were dominated as well by that being which dominates the world system. And that 147 00:16:54,560 --> 00:17:01,720 is the prince of the power of the air, as he is called, the spirit that is now 148 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:10,720 working in the sons of disobedience. This prince is a ruler. He is the ruler of the 149 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:18,360 kingdom of the air, literally is how it's put here. He is the one in whom all the 150 00:17:18,360 --> 00:17:28,120 world lies, 1st John 5 19. He is the God of this world, 2nd Corinthians 4 4, that 151 00:17:28,120 --> 00:17:33,880 blinds the unsaved so that they might not see the light of the glorious gospel of 152 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:43,200 Christ. And it says regarding this evil being Satan, this spirit, that he is now 153 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:52,800 working. The word working means that he is energizing, he is exerting influence 154 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:59,720 and force. Notice that he's not just exerting influence on a particularly 155 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:08,240 evil class of people, but he is exerting influence, he is energizing or working in 156 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:14,320 the sons of disobedience. That refers to all of the unregenerate. That does not 157 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:21,600 mean that all unregenerate people are satanic or demon possessed. But what it 158 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:29,800 does mean is that because they are spiritually dead and cut off from God, that 159 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:36,320 the force that is exerted upon them, that energizes them in their life is 160 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:43,800 satanic in its origin. Just as all of the children of God are energized by the 161 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:50,040 spirit of God, according to Philippians 2 13. It is God who is working in you, same 162 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:55,440 word, working, both the willing and doing of his good pleasure. Just as God is 163 00:18:55,440 --> 00:19:04,120 exerting influence upon and working in, energizing his children, so Satan is 164 00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:10,920 energizing and working in the sons of disobedience as they're called. We'll 165 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:15,360 come back to that phrase in a moment. But notice that further he says regarding 166 00:19:15,360 --> 00:19:20,760 the unsaved that they are dominated by the flesh. He says we live in the lusts 167 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:30,640 of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind. The unsaved 168 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:38,400 are controlled by a fallen nature. You were unsaved at one point, if you've 169 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:44,600 trusted Jesus Christ. You were unsaved before that point when you believed on 170 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:54,880 him and were controlled by sin. You were enslaved to it. Now one who is enslaved 171 00:19:54,880 --> 00:20:06,960 to sin may appear to be reputable. That sin may be outward and overt and evil and 172 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:14,040 wicked and those kinds of people are easily marked. But never forget that even 173 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:20,520 the cultured person, the civilized person, the quote person of reputation in the 174 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:26,560 community who does not know Jesus Christ, that person is just as controlled by sin 175 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:34,320 as that person who's out in still water tonight in prison. Every unsaved person 176 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:40,640 is dominated by that fallen nature that is within him and that flesh, that 177 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:46,520 fallen nature even perverts his thinking process. It involves his mind so that 178 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:53,720 his ability to reason, the calculations of his mind are twisted and perverted 179 00:20:53,720 --> 00:21:02,600 by sin. He is totally involved in it. Not a very happy description of the 180 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:08,040 unsaved person. Not a very pleasant description of you before you were saved, 181 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:15,440 but this is where God says we were. Dominated by the world, dominated by 182 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:24,160 Satan, dominated by the flesh. He now describes to us the condition of our 183 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:29,320 souls along with the conduct that characterized us, but now he tells us of 184 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:34,920 the company that we kept at that point. The sons of disobedience he calls them. 185 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:41,120 This phrase is used again in chapter 5 and verse 9 of the same epistle or verse 186 00:21:41,120 --> 00:21:47,040 8 rather. Well let's try verse 6 back up a little bit more. He says let no one 187 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:52,640 deceive you with empty words for because of these things the wrath of God comes 188 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:59,560 upon the sons of disobedience. He's talking here about people, unsaved 189 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:05,840 people, who are distinctively characterized by disobedience. This 190 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:12,840 phrase sons of disobedience is a Semitic expression. It refers to those who 191 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:19,080 spring from disobedience as the mother who gave them birth. Their disobedience 192 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:23,120 may be very active, it may be passive, but it is there nonetheless. They are in 193 00:22:23,120 --> 00:22:29,400 rebellion against God. There's opposition to God in their lives. They are the sons 194 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:36,880 of disobedience, born of disobedience, and it says that before we were saved 195 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:45,360 those are the people we ran around with. That was our company. As the old saying 196 00:22:45,360 --> 00:22:53,720 goes birds of a feather flock together. Company discloses character. You look to 197 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:59,040 see who a person fellowships with and you'll find out something about that 198 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:06,520 person. It is very natural for an unregenerate person to find company with 199 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:11,200 other unregenerate people because they have things in common. They spring 200 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:18,000 likewise from disobedience, both of them. Their conduct is in the same direction, 201 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:23,560 dominated by the world, by Satan, by the flesh, and that's because of the 202 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:32,160 condition that they're in. They are dead in trespasses and sins. Now when God 203 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:38,440 saves us our company changes. I believe that we need to maintain as many 204 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:47,640 contacts as we can for as long as we can with our unsaved friends. But the fact is 205 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:52,400 that eventually your unsaved friends, if they don't come to Christ, are probably 206 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:58,000 going to click you off and be done with you because you're no longer in the same 207 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:02,480 condition they are, conducting yourself like they do. You're no longer keeping 208 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:15,680 company with them as you once did. Now verse 3 he describes our destiny. He 209 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:24,680 says, you were by nature children of wrath even as the rust. Wrath here refers 210 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:34,360 to the judgment of God. It is a word which means God's settled indignation. It 211 00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:42,600 is not a word for anger, which usually refers to a flash, an outburst of 212 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:53,200 emotion. But this word wrath has to do with a deep abiding indignation which 213 00:24:53,200 --> 00:25:00,720 God has towards sin and sinners. If God were to express his anger he would be 214 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:05,480 knocking off sinners with outbursts of it. But that isn't the way that God 215 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:14,240 operates. The Bible speaks of God's wrath. It is deep, it is settled, it is permanent, 216 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:20,680 it will never change towards sin, but it's not always expressed at the moment. 217 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:28,560 But forever keep in mind that it will ultimately be expressed. It might be 218 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:38,320 compared to a volcano beneath which sets this lake of lava, of rock that is 219 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:45,400 molten, and there it stays and it stays and it stays for years and decades, maybe 220 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:54,360 centuries, until there is a vent, until there is pressure exerted perhaps through 221 00:25:54,360 --> 00:25:59,600 an earthquake, and suddenly that hot lava goes up through the ground and out the 222 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:06,520 surface and is exposed. So it is with God's wrath. It is resting, it is settled, 223 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:16,720 it is permanent, it is a part of his very nature. God hates sin. And one day that 224 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:23,040 sin, rather that wrath, will be vented against all sin. And that was our destiny 225 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:32,400 friends. God's wrath will inevitably come upon the sons of disobedience. Even now 226 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:39,360 it abides upon the unbelieving, John 3.36. And notice that it is by nature, it 227 00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:48,400 is naturally that this is so. That the sons of Adam, who are unregenerate, will 228 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:56,640 one day be the recipients of the wrath of God. Time does not permit that we could 229 00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:03,000 go back to Romans chapter 1, beginning in verse 18, and read of the wrath of God 230 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:09,240 that is righteously going to be expressed upon all of those who are 231 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:15,280 disobedient and unbelieving. And so the Apostle here gives to you your 232 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:22,520 description. What you were like, what the condition of your soul was before you 233 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:29,560 were saved, you were dead. He tells you about your conduct, it was in trespasses 234 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:38,200 and sins. You were enslaved to the world. Satan worked in your life, exerted his 235 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:45,880 influence in you. The flesh was indulged, even your very reasoning ability, your 236 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:53,160 mind, the way you thought, was perverted by sin. Does any of that sound familiar? 237 00:27:53,160 --> 00:28:00,000 And he says the company that you kept was that of the sons of disobedience. And 238 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:07,520 you were on your way to experience the wrath of God which you deserved. I 239 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:11,480 conclude with the last two words, the first two words of the last verse we 240 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:19,480 read, verse 4, but God. I think that those are the two most significant words in 241 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:26,400 this whole chapter because on these two words there rests a pivot of Paul's 242 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:32,240 thought. He says here is what you were, here is the way you lived, here are the 243 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:39,680 people you ran with, this is what you deserve because of it, but God. And now he 244 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:48,520 describes your deliverance. He says God intervened, he did not allow you to reap 245 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:57,680 what you sowed, he did not permit you to receive what you rightly deserve, he did 246 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:02,720 not allow you to remain in your condition, to continue in your conduct and 247 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:11,800 to keep your old company. God in his grace intervened and saved you from all 248 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,120 that. 249 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:23,400 Henriksen says the more men learn to see the dimensions of their utterly lost 250 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:29,720 condition, the more they will also by God's grace appreciate their marvelous 251 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:38,920 deliverance. What is the benefit of studying a passage like this? Indeed why 252 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:45,160 did the Spirit of God cause Paul to write these words? Is it not that you and 253 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:55,880 I might keep in mind what we were? Is it not that we might be constantly refreshed 254 00:29:55,880 --> 00:30:05,640 in our memories to see what we deserved but God intervened? But for the grace of 255 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:11,760 God where we will be headed in our destiny, revisiting our past is not a 256 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:18,760 pleasant thing to do, but it surely renews, I trust, our appreciation for the 257 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:24,280 grace of God. For remember there was nothing in us that caused God to look 258 00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:30,720 upon us with favor particularly. God did not intervene because he saw that we 259 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:36,760 were trying hard or because somehow we were born in the United States and had 260 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:42,640 white skin and spoke the English language. God did not intervene because 261 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:47,480 we were pretty nice people, because we weren't. There was nothing to 262 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:53,200 distinguish us in our fallenness, in our sin from every other person in the world 263 00:30:53,200 --> 00:31:06,320 who's lost. That God who is rich in mercy and rich in grace reached down with his 264 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:13,640 hand, took hold of us, and lifted us up out of that miry clay from the pit where 265 00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:23,720 we were and set our feet on the rock. Is there any wonder that Newton overcome by 266 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:31,360 the degradation of his own life as an immoral slave trader and then saved by 267 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:40,200 God's grace? Could write the words amazing grace. How sweet the sound that 268 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:51,760 saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, now I'm found, was blind, and now I see. 269 00:31:51,760 --> 00:32:18,160 Let's bow together. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. 270 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:47,960 I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see. Lord, ever remind us, I pray, of the grace that you have manifested 271 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:59,280 to us. We might be called into the fellowship of your Son, undeserved, 272 00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:09,160 unmerited kindness indeed, and all yours. And oh what a price you paid in your 273 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:18,200 Son so that we might have that grace. Thank you that all of the sin and guilt, the 274 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:25,960 degradation and depravity of our past is forgiven for Jesus' sake. Oh thank you 275 00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:33,520 Father that he came and died for us and bore our hell, absorbed your wrath in 276 00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:42,880 himself so that we might be delivered from the destiny we deserve. And not only 277 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:48,600 delivered from that but given a new destiny to be exalted with him on his 278 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:58,160 very throne of glory, hallelujah. Thank you. Remind us afresh of what you've done 279 00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:04,200 for us and give us hearts of compassion for those who are still exactly like 280 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:11,300 what we've read tonight. And may we love them and go after them and seek to win 281 00:34:11,300 --> 00:34:17,300 them for Christ. And then I pray that the depth of forgiveness that you have 282 00:34:17,300 --> 00:34:23,040 extended to us for Jesus' sake will be the kind of forgiveness that we extend 283 00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:31,160 to one another when we sin against each other. Forgiving one another even as God 284 00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:40,560 has forgiven you, may that be the pattern of our lives as believers. In Jesus' name, 285 00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:53,560 amen.